The next meeting of the Assessment Subcommittees will take place on Saturday, Aug. 28 in Grand Junction. Five subcommittees will continue to form recommendations to the Assessment Stakeholders Committee which will shape Colorado’s next generation of assessments.
The meeting will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Two Rivers Convention Center, 159 Main St., in Grand Junction.
The goals of the meeting include: analyze and discuss assessment options and come to agreement with other subcommittees on alignment issues; reach consensus on the revised drafts of the purpose and guidelines; and agree on a draft of the assessment utility.
Agenda highlights include:
· 8:30 – 8:45 a.m. Welcome and Overview of Goals
· 8:45 – 9:45 a.m. Individual Subcommittee Meetings
· 9:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Joint Subcommittee Meetings & Individual Subcommittee Work
· 4:30 p.m. – Large Group Debrief
· 5 p.m. - Adjourn
Ninety individuals have been selected from a pool of more than 400 applicants to help develop the new assessment system to replace the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP).
Each subcommittee is charged with outlining the design specifications which the state will base its proposal for a new, unified assessment system.
The subcommittees are focused on: assessments for school readiness; postsecondary and workforce readiness; formative, interim and summative assessments. One subcommittee will also work on new assessments for special populations of students.
This is the third of four scheduled subcommittee meetings. The final meeting will take place on Saturday, Sept. 11 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Fort Collins Hilton.
For a list of selected subcommittee members and continued updates, visit http://www.cde.state.co.us/ASMTRev/Subcommittees.htm
Background
According to Senate Bill 08-212, the Colorado Department of Education was to revise the content standards for 13 subjects. The Colorado State Board of Education accomplished this goal last year by formally adopting the new content standards on Dec. 11, 2009. By Dec. 2010, the state board will give approval for a plan to revise the state assessment system. The new system is expected to be implemented for the first time in the 2013-2014 school year.
There will be no changes to the 2011 spring assessment to allow districts and teachers adequate time to familiarize themselves with the new academic standards.
The transition begins with 2012’s spring summative test, which will assess only new standards and use only aligned and relevant items from the CSAP. This will ensure students receive no “surprises,” but instead are assessed with a familiar testing process.
The 2013 spring summative test will introduce a revised state assessment that draws from existing CSAP items aligned to the new standards, as well as new items developed or purchased to cover additional content within the standards.
In spring 2014, students will take the new state summative assessment.
Once the assessment system has been identified, CAP4K calls for the state board and Colorado Commission on Higher Education to review and consider the state’s graduation guidelines, criteria for endorsed diplomas and alignment with the higher education admission placement tests.
For more information visit http://www.cde.state.co.us/asmtrev/home.htm
For more information, contact Mark Stevens, 303-866-3898, or Megan McDermott, 303-866-2334, in the CDE Office of Communications. To sign up for the CDE e-mail news service, please visit http://www.cde.state.co.us/Communications/index.html.
Students at Landmark academy at reunion celebrate first annual latin culture week
Landmark Academy at Reunion , a tuition-free public charter school, recently hosted their First Annual Latin Culture Week, a week focused on educating students on the various aspects of Latin culture, from music and art to sports and celebrities, through unique activities. During the week-long celebration, students were able to step into the lives of the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans with Latin culture lessons through piñata making, cultural crafts, songs, traditional foods and more. Students made maracas and learned a traditional Mexican Hat Dance; created Aztec suns working with metal tooling; and studied different countries in Mexico , Central America and South America . Aztec dancers from the Colorado Folk Arts Council also visited with students and educated them on the spiritual and traditional aspects of Aztec culture through dance. “We reside in a community with strong Latin and Hispanic roots,” said Matt Carlton, principal of Landmark Academy at Reunion . “Our community culture is important to us at Landmark. By providing unique ways for our students to learn the various backgrounds of our diverse community they are able to understand and appreciate different cultures.” For more information about Landmark Academy at Reunion , please visit www.landmarkacademy.org.
